The Hours After
by justsmileandwaveboys
Summary: A look into the pack's lives after the ghost riders have been defeated. *One Shot*


Stiles closed his eyes as he sank to the floor and put his head in his hands, trying to get his breathing back to normal. Lydia and his dad had just shot a ghost rider version of his mom and he didn't want that as the last memory he had of her. A few seconds later, the teen was joined by his father and maybe-girlfriend-definitely-love-of-his-life. Wordlessly, his father took out a picture from his jacket's inner pocket and showed it to him. It was the last picture he had of his mom, the one he kept on his book shelf, with her in the hospital bed that had been her residence for almost a year before her disease had snatched her away from her boys, and a 10 year old Stiles sitting next to her, holding her hand. Taking the photograph in his hands, Stiles smiled, remembering how he had skipped half of his school day to be with her, how they had talked about his and Scott's latest adventures, how she had reminded him of every embarrassing thing he did as a toddler, but mostly how she had laughed and called him "mischief" for one last time. Yes, he thought, this was the memory he wanted to hold onto. Sighing, he looked up at the worried faces staring at him and smiled, a genuine, honest to God, patented Stiles smile. Chuckling, his dad pulled him into a tight hug and Lydia held his hand before the three got up from the floor.

They walked out of the school building just in time to meet some extremely confused townspeople, who had been in the library-cum-train station when the worlds converged. Spotting the Sheriff, a few parents came to ask what had happened as they were confused as to why they were in the school at 12.30 in the night. Stiles replied, fabricating a story on the spot, "There was a storm and the school is the largest place in the town to stay together so... But the predictions were a bit off I guess, because we weren't hit that hard… well apart from those trees." He added as he pointed towards some fallen trees in the empty parking lot. His dad continued, as he caught on to Stiles story, "A warning was issued but we just got a call that the storm has passed, so it is safe to go home now." He went around telling the same highly detectable story and ushering people to walk home. No one really bought the story but after living in Beacon Hills for most of their lives, no one bothered questioning it either, knowing that if the Sheriff is certain about it being safe, it probably was.

"That was the worst lie you have ever come up with." Lydia remarked, looking up at Stiles.

"I was under pressure!" he replied flailing his hands around a bit.

Seeing him taking up his usual mannerisms, Lydia realized how much she had missed his constant movements and his voice – oh, that voice! She didn't know that one could miss a voice so much. Suddenly, the few inches between them seemed like miles and she clutched onto him as if her life depended on it. Surprised by her sudden show of emotions, he slowly brought his arms around her, one wrapped snugly around her waist and the other cradling her head. He kissed the side of her head and whispered, "It's over Lydia. I am here now. You did it! You brought me back. You remembered me." At his last line, Lydia looked up at him with teary eyes and expressed her fears, "I almost didn't. I almost forgot you. I almost let you go." "But you didn't. I heard you calling out to me when I was there and I knew I would be fine. You would bring me back and you did. You saved me." Stiles comforted her, pride and love evident in his every word.

A loud exclamation of "STILES!" was the couple's only warning before a very emotional were-coyote crashed into them, the force of her impact, making them sway backwards only to be caught by Noah, preventing them from falling down. Untangling themselves from the group, Stiles and Malia hugged each other, as Scott, Peter and Theo walked towards them. Pulling out of the hug, Malia took a step back and said, "Never, ever disappear like that ever again." Punctuating each word with a slight punch to his arm and Stiles' replies of 'ow'. Stiles grinned at her, as he rubbed his arm and looked up just in time to see Scott moving towards him before pulling him into a bear hug, this time undisturbed by Liam or flaming hellhounds. "They are gone right?" Stiles questioned into Scott's shoulder after few seconds. Scott stepped back and nodded as he replicated the infectious grin on his best friend's face.

The said grin however fell and morphed into an angry-cum-shocked face, complete with squinted eyes, as Stiles spotted Theo standing behind Malia. "What? No hugs for me?" Theo asked, with his usual level of smugness. Stiles hated that look and moreover hated Theo with ardor for all that he had done to them not even a full year ago. He wanted to hit Theo, make him pay for how greatly he had destroyed the pack, destroyed the unbreakable friendship between him and Scott. Stiles always blamed himself when things went south and he still hadn't forgiven himself for trusting the chimera. Now, looking at Theo, he couldn't help but remember the look on Scott's face in the rain that one horrible, horrible night.

He could feel the anger building up in him until he felt Lydia stroking his forearm and slowly opening the fist that he didn't know he had made. Then she held his hand and he could feel himself calming down, enough to not wanting to punch Theo in the jugular. Scott spoke up, dissipating the silence, "He helped us with the ghost riders?" The statement ended up sounding more like a question as Stiles turned to stare at Scott. The look on Scott's face however informed Stiles that he most probably didn't have anything to do with Theo being back to the land of the living. He knew the only way to get Theo back would be to use Kira's katana and no one was stupid enough to do that… well maybe one – one very impulsive, probably psychotic kid. Tilting his head in a questioning manner, Stiles asked Scott, "Liam?" "Liam." Scott confirmed nodding. "Ok. Let's send him back. We can do that right! Right?" Stiles asked incredulously. "Umm right… about that – "Scott started but Theo cut in middle informing Stiles, "I made Liam break the katana in exchange for my boundless knowledge and help." "You… you… of course you did!" Stiles sputtered. "Kira is going to be so pissed when she comes to know." Stiles told Scott, in response to which Scott's eyes bulged as if he had just thought of that.

Theo pulled out his phone when they heard a vibration and accepted the call as the Sheriff and Scott give each other a side hug. "Dude, you are screwed." Theo tells Liam on the call and then proceeded to hand over the device to Scott, saying to Scott and Stiles, "Mom, Dad, it's your kid."

"Hey Liam. Yeah we are fine… No, my phone ran out of charge… What about… Ok… No we are at the school. Where… Ok… Who? We will be there in 20 minutes. We have to walk, Stiles' jeep is at the hospital."

"Liam, Hayden, Mason and Corey are at the hospital along with mom and Chris. Corey is hurt but healing so they are waiting there for him to heal completely." Scott says as they start walking towards the main road.

They all walked in silence. Theo and Peter walked in the front, while Stiles walked hand in hand with Lydia and the other arm around Scott, who had his arms around Stiles and Malia on each side. The Sheriff walked a bit to the side, occasionally talking to and guiding some lost resident. Stiles felt tears prickle his eyes and as he blinked them away he thought of how just a few hours back he had lost all hope of ever getting to see anyone of them again. That he would never get to see his dad again, never get to scold him for eating unhealthy or ever hear him shout at Stiles for not cleaning his room.

Scott removed his hand from Stiles shoulders and linked it with his arm, just like how they used to when they were kids, walking to the hospital or the Sheriff's station after school. Stiles held on to his brother a bit tighter when he thought that he would have never gotten to see him or share a laugh over an inside joke or play video games and end up sleeping, tangled up with each other, with more often than not, one of them ending up sleeping on the floor. Scott nudged him in the side and when Stiles looked over, he mouthed, "It's good to have you back." Stiles mouthed back, with tears threatening to fall, "It's good to be back."

When they reached the main intersection of the town, Peter broke off from the group to go back to his apartment, promising Malia that he would meet up with her the next day and nodded his acknowledgement when Stiles thanked him for helping him in the other dimension and for getting his keys back to his friends. Noah, who was walking a bit behind the teenagers, jogged up to them and informed them that all the deputies and officers were back and that Deputies Parrish and Clark would be meeting the pack at the hospital. Lydia explained to Stiles that a month ago, Liam, Hayden and Mason had told their families about the supernatural side of the world to make them beware of the ghost riders.

As they neared the hospital, Stiles felt disoriented. Everything was as it was when he was taken and yet there were marginal differences and those differences kept reminding him that he was gone for three months and that he would never get them back. Scott's hair was a bit longer than he remembered, Lydia's top was new, he knew this for a fact because she had pestered him for a week before he was taken, that she could not wait for this particular pattern to come out in the stores. They had passed a billboard with an advertisement for a new movie hitting the theatres, the diner under renovation had been opened for business, and his brain counted a few more potted plants near the hospital entrance. There was a new nurse at the reception and he was sure of it as he had memorized the faces and names of each nurse in the hospital, over the many years that he spent there, either visiting someone or being admitted there or just simply hanging out there with Scott after school, waiting for Melissa's shift to get over. He realized that he could be gone forever and the world would go on like nothing happened.

All negative thoughts scrambled out of his head the second he saw Melissa, his second mom. She smiled as they neared and promptly pulled both Scott and Stiles into a hug and kissed their foreheads. Natalie Martin was talking with Chris Argent and Dr. Dunbar when Lydia called out to her. "Mom. I got him back. See I got Stiles back. I told you he was real!" Lydia exclaimed almost hysterically as she hugged her mom, one hand still gripping Stiles'. "Yes. Yes, you did! I am so proud of you baby." Natalie whispered into the embrace.

Melissa pulled Stiles into an observation room after spotting the strangulation marks around his neck left by ghost rider Claudia. After ensuring that the only thing Stiles was suffering from was dehydration and possibly low blood glucose and sugar levels due to not eating, which was soon taken care of by Scott and Malia who got some energy bars and juice for the pack and the adults, they all dispersed.

Walking up to Liam, Stiles hit him on the back of the head, giving him a pointed look. "Oh. Right. About Theo…" Liam started to explain. Stiles held up a hand to stop him and chided him, "Next time you start to get an idea, run it by the pack." Liam sheepishly replied with a nod. He understood that no in the pack liked Theo and there wasn't any love lost between him and Theo, but the guy did just save his life a couple of times, so maybe he had changed a bit. Maybe. Liam decided to talk to Theo about the haunted look he had on his face, every time he thought no one was looking. If he wanted to follow in Scott's footsteps of protecting the people of his hometown, then he was determined to hear both the sides of the story.

The younger kids including Theo, mostly because he had no place to go, decided to crash at Liam's since it was the closest home from the hospital. The older teens understood that Stiles would want to return to his home and everyone reached an understanding that Scott, Malia and Lydia would be sleeping over at the Stilinski home along with Melissa and of course Noah. The next day thankfully being a Saturday, the pack decided to meet up for lunch.

Once they reached his house, Stiles went and kept the photograph of his mother in its rightful place – the bookshelf. Stiles turned around to find his dad and Lydia standing just outside his room, looking at it as if it was the most beautiful thing in the universe. He was about to ask what the matter was, when he flashed back to the time he and Scott had discovered Alex's room and how it had disappeared completely in front of his eyes. He wondered if that's what had happened to his room, if all that was left were four walls and a pestering feeling of forgetting something. He got his answer as a tear rolled down his dad's face. Walking towards his dad, Stiles assured him, "I'm here dad and I'm not going anywhere… well, till college anyway and not even then if you don't want me too."

Noah nodded and smiled at his son. "Hungry? I'll go make some sandwiches for everyone." He announced. He took a final look inside his son's room and sighed in relief. Now the room looked complete with Stiles standing there, smiling at him and reminding him to use vegetables in the sandwich and not too much mayo. Rolling his eyes, he made his way towards the kitchen where Melissa joined him.

Lydia stood just outside Stiles' room door, staring at him interact with his dad and felt a smile tugging at her lips. This felt so right. Soon Stiles was taking her by her hands and pulling her into the room and then into his arms. They stood there, basking in each other's warmth and love. She closed her eyes and rested her head above his heart and his faint heartbeats grounded her to the reality that finally after three months of trying to remember and crying herself to sleep at her inability to remember that he was finally here. He was real. So very real and warm and loving and perfect. In his embrace, Lydia felt peace like never before.

Stiles tightened his hold on Lydia, pulling her even closer. He didn't know what had happened in his absence, but whatever it was, it had shaken up his pack, he knew that much. He remembered Peter telling him long ago that losing a pack member was like losing a limb and Stiles wondered whether that's how his friends turned family had felt when he was erased from existence. He knew he was destroyed beyond imagination, knowing that he never got to say goodbye to anyone other than Lydia. The few minutes before he was taken, had been the worst in his short life. Easily in the top ten worst moments, and he had quite a few of them. It reminded him of the time his mom was in the hospital, the disease eating her away from the inside. Seeing his father and Scott forget him was his breaking point and he didn't think he would be recovering from that anytime soon.

He felt tears threatening to fall and he buried his face in Lydia's hair, breathing her in. He reminded himself that his friends and family needed him now. He needed to be strong for them and so he did what he had always done – he pushed all the emotions deep inside and buried it in a box with every other horrible thing that had happened to him. A box that he opened only when he was alone, usually in bed at night, when there was no one to see him cry, when there was no one to tell him that it was ok, because it wasn't and when he couldn't trouble his friends with the monsters in his head.

They broke away from each other when they heard a soft 'hey'. Looking at the threshold of his room, Stiles saw Malia and Scott standing there, both grinning like maniacs at the couple in the room.

Scott came in the room and dropped down on the black, revolving chair, with a content sigh. He had missed this room, without even knowing that it existed. To Scott, Stiles' place had always been a second home, where he had spent many nights whenever his mom had to work the night shift at the hospital and Stiles had shifted from being his best friend to his brother somewhere over the years, long before Scott was bitten. Just like Scott's house, Stiles' place also bore the marks of their various childhood adventures, like the chipped off edge of Stiles' study table that Scott had taken out while swinging around his lacrosse stick years ago, or the glued together master piece in the living room that Stiles had crashed into while Scott chased him around the room. Even the chair that Scott sat on had a black cloth stapled behind it to hide the claw marks he had left when he wasn't in control.

Malia sat down on the bed and Lydia joined her as they watched Stiles shifting his investigation boards to the side and Scott swiveling around in the chair, never taking his eyes off Stiles. Scott had a carefree smile and Malia couldn't remember the last time he had looked so happy. She could feel and smell the happiness and relief roll out in waves from the alpha. _"… more like brothers"_ echoed in her head as she looked at the boys and she realized that Stiles was correct – they were like brothers, they bickered and fought, but protected and looked out for each other and loved one another with ferocity like no other. She hadn't known them for as long as Lydia had, but she knew that the strain of Scott turning into a werewolf and the supernatural disasters that followed them, would have destroyed a weaker relationship, but not these two boys. They had braved everything thrown their way and came out stronger.

Stiles perched on the desk in front of Scott and they all sat in silence, no one feeling the need to say anything. They were happy just knowing that they survived yet another calamity. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall behind him. He could feel his friends looking at him, trying not to turn it into outright staring, and normally he would be embarrassed and flustered, but in this moment, he could not care less. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, he discreetly started counting his fingers and hoped it looked like another one of constant movements. A few moments later, he did start fidgeting around, his fingers drumming on the table top, his legs jiggling, in turn shaking the whole table. He opened his eyes when he felt something being pressed into his hands. Looking down he realized that Scott was giving him his medications and he had gone without them for quite a few days (whether it was just a few days or three whole months, he couldn't figure it out). He needed to get a refill.

Hopping down from the table and going towards his cupboard, he announced, "You know what, I'm gonna take a shower. Really don't know for how long I have gone without one."

"OK." Scott said and started following him out of the room.

"Woah. Where do you think you are going buddy?" Stiles exclaimed as he realized that Scott was following him and the girls were staring at him as if he would disappear if he went to the washroom.

"With you." Before Stiles could contradict him, Scott added, "It's not like I haven't seen you naked or showered with you."

Malia snorted.

"Dude! It's one thing to shower together when we are six and another at the age of 18! Wait! You are still 18 right? I didn't miss your birthday? What's the date today? Did I miss anyone's birthday? Any other important dates? Did I miss our exams? Prom? …" Stiles ranted on till Lydia fondly interrupted him, "You missed only Mason's birthday and Melissa's too. Nothing else though."

Sighing, Stiles pointed at Scott, "Stay… you both too." He added, looking at the girls. So, obviously Scott followed his best friend into the washroom, pointing out the uses of a shower curtain.

Lydia tensed as soon as the boys walked out of the room. She slowly looked around to make sure everything was still in the room. Malia went and picked up the flannel Stiles had dropped near his cupboard and handed it to Lydia, "He is back and he is here." Lydia smiled shyly as she touched the flannel, then looked up at Malia to explain, "It's just so…" "I know. Unreal." Malia finished. "It's like I see him and I'm starting to remember everything that happened, between us, to us and with us. And I can't believe how I even forgot him in the first place. He is my anchor. No wonder I have been going crazy all these months. There was no one to remind me that it's alright to be scared but I could share my burden with him, with you guys. I am so sorry I didn't believe you earlier. If only we had, he would have been here earlier!" the were-coyote continued, her breathing increasing with every passing second.

It was Lydia's turn to comfort the poor girl. As she rubbed her back, she said, "Hey. Easy there. It's ok. In the end we did manage to get him and save everyone. It's alright." After a while the banshee asked skeptically, "Can you hear him?" Malia looked up at her and nodded. "Stiles is telling Scott to stay on his side of the shower curtain! They have the weirdest friendship I have ever seen, not that I have seen that many." Lydia giggled at hearing the boys' antics.

"By the way, have you told him yet?" Malia asked Lydia, watching her change into Stiles' jersey that was kept on the chair that Scott had occupied some time back. "That you love him?" she added. "Not in so many words." Lydia said. "We still had to figure out how to save all those people… Are you… I mean, is it ok…" Lydia took a steadying breath, then continued, "Are you ok with this? Him and me? I mean you guys – "

"It's in the past. Plus, we didn't have what you both have. This connection – trust me, it's hard to ignore. I am honestly happy that you both can be happy now. He was and is still my best friend and is going to remain that way. We liked each other. A lot. But I have been thinking about it sometime after we had broken up, that back when we got together in the Eichen House… we were both escaping something, him – the Nogitsune and all that he had to go through and me – the guilt of murdering my family and adjusting to human life. And then once we had even talked about it and realized that we just found refuge in each other. So it's ok. More than ok. It's awesome! I love him, but only as a friend. Have for a very long time." The were-coyote was ecstatic at the prospect of Stiles and Lydia acknowledging their love for each other.

"Thank you. You don't know how much it means to me." Lydia said, pulling the other girl into a quick hug.

"So… um… what's the deal with you and Lydia?" Scott asked. He was sitting on the toilet seat after having argued with Stiles that no way in hell would he leave the washroom without his best friend. "And while we are at this topic, when were you going to tell me that she kissed you?" he added.

Stiles peeked out from behind the curtain, "Who told you that?"

"She did. When we were trying to remember you, she said that when she kissed you, it all changed."

"Oh! I… I didn't know that. Um… that was the day we sacrificed ourselves to find the nemeton. Isaac had messaged me that Argent had been taken by Jennifer and I had a panic attack. So, she kissed me to distract me."

"OH MY GOD STILES! You should have told me. Also, you didn't hear this from me."

Stiles chuckled. "She was the only one who hadn't forgotten me when I met her just before the dimension-hopping-cowboys kidnapped me. I told her to remember me. To remember that I love her. So, I guess she did." He breathed out.

"Dude. She did so much more than that. She opened a rift in space and time. It was brilliant actually. Malia and I both tried to, so hard, but she has the strongest connection with you."

"Oh… When we got separated the last time, I ended up in the locker room again and there was a rider there, about to shoot me. And then she appeared out of nowhere and saved me. She told me that she didn't say it back. So I'm assuming she loves me." Stiles told as he leaned out to pick up his facewash.

"She does." Scott exclaimed excitedly. "Please tell me you guys got together."

"I think so. We kissed."

"I assumed."

"It was awesome."

"I sure hope so."

"I think I am falling in love with her all over again." He said in a dreamy voice, reminding Scott of himself with Allison.

"You have been in love with her since 3rd grade! I can't believe your ten year plan worked."

"Well, I didn't account for so many near-death experiences and the whole creature of the night thing, but whatever rocks our boat right?" He joked, getting out of the shower. "Ok. Now get out. Out. Out. Out. Out. Out." He pushed Scott out of the washroom – or rather Scott let himself be manhandled out of the washroom.

Few minutes later, the boys joined their respective parent and the girls at the dining table. One by one, they all brought Stiles up to date with the happenings of the three months. Noah told him about a B&E case that Stiles would have loved to solve with him, Melissa told him how the younger pack members had created a ruckus in her house in the older ones' absence by throwing a party, and the teens told him about how they managed to fight off the ghost riders and physics teacher/Nazi were-lion. In turn, Stiles informed them of how instrumental Peter had been in getting out of the limbo of the other dimension.

An hour later, the teens found themselves lying down on makeshift beds in the living room underneath a canopy of bedsheets, which Scott and Stiles had put up. The last time the boys had done this was at Scott's place after Stiles had come clean to Scott about being unable to function once the Nogitsune had left his body. This was just a few days before Derek was taken and they had to give up grieving in order to save their friend. This is how they handled any grief thrown their way. It reminded them of simpler, easier days when their only worry was whether old Mr. Rogers would find out that they had been messing around in his beloved garden on almost a daily basis or whether their parents would find out about the amount of raw sugar they consumed before going to bed in an attempt to stay up all night.

Stiles was in between Scott on the left and Lydia on the right and Malia was next to Lydia. Using Stiles' arm as a pillow, Lydia threw her arm over his torso, as she continued listening to Scott reminiscing of how he met Stiles for the first time. Malia had dozed off somewhere between "you guys are so cute together" and "you should have seen him as a four year old with a serious case of bedhead". Stiles pulled Lydia even closer, if it was possible and turned towards Scott's voice.

"Stiles here was trying to catch a ball and so obviously he didn't see where he was going."

"You were in my way."

"No, I wasn't. I remember you spectacularly falling into the sandbox and right on top of me. You destroyed my castle."

"That was not a castle! Just lumps of sand. I managed to catch the ball, in case you were wondering." Stiles added to Lydia.

"Of course you did" Lydia laughed.

"Anyway, the sand box was far more interesting than playing catch. So, we sat the whole afternoon playing there. And well, the rest is history."

Lydia shifted her head to his chest in an attempt to get even closer to her boyfriend. Wait, was he her boyfriend? She didn't know where they stood as of now. Two kisses and indirect/direct declaration of love should be enough to decide where they stood, but then when were things that simple between them. Deciding to talk to him about their relationship, probably the next day, Lydia settled down under his chin, breathing him in. He smelled of mint soap and something earthy, which she couldn't figure out and not for the lack of trying. It was something uniquely Stiles.

He laughed quietly, not wanting to wake the tired were-coyote and Lydia could feel and hear the vibrations, starting deep in his chest, his whole body shaking with restrained laughter at a memory brought up by Scott. It seemed like the alpha was determined to remember everything about his friend. She realized it was probably a silent apology to him for not remembering the most important person in his life for almost three months. She herself was tempted to bring up fond memories of Stiles, but it was a moment to be shared between the two boys.

"Hey Lydia, you still awake?" Scott asked as he got up a bit to look at his best friends. He grinned at what he saw. She was lying with her head on top of Stiles, their arms curled protectively around each other. There was a time when _the_ Lydia Martin wouldn't have been caught dead with Stiles, the class clown and now they were so much in love. The werewolf could just feel the love. Looking at them, he realized that they were meant to be, however clichéd that might sound, he knew it was true. At her whispered 'yup', he smirked and said, "Then I should tell you how Stiles saw you and fell for you. Literally."

"No. No. No. Don't do it. I'll destroy that beloved death-machine of yours." Stiles threatened Scott, referring to Scott's bike.

"This I need to hear. Shush" Lydia playfully smacked her pillow's chest.

Holding down Stiles free arm which was currently trying to physically shut his mouth, Scott told," 3rd grade. I think the day we were taken for a picnic to Ridgeworth. You were not in our class but that day the whole of 3rd and 4th grade had been taken."

"Oh yeah I remember that day. It was fun. That was the first time I met Danny, Matt and Jackson." Lydia added silently.

"Yeah well, that was the day, Stiles saw you and fell in love with you."

"Stop scaring her. Don't listen to him. He will exaggerate." Stiles groaned.

"Shh…"

"Ok. So, back then I had asthma right, so because of the pollens and running around, it got worse. So we both went and sat down near the food stalls." Scott said. The school had taken them to a huge park which was also hosting the town's annual fair. "We were sitting there, looking at everyone playing when you appeared out of nowhere and Stiles stopped listening to me."

"She was far more interesting than making fun of people." Stiles remarked. His voice turned soft, like one remembering good old memories, as he continued, "You were wearing a yellow top and something grey and a yellow headband."

"How the hell do you remember that?" Lydia asked.

"Photographic memory!"

"You don't have photographic memory." Both Scott and Lydia said at the same time.

"Fine! Don't believe it! One tends to remember beautiful things."

Lydia blushed and was grateful that neither of the boys could see her in the dark, although she was sure that Scott could tell, what with his enhanced senses.

"Oh. Now you wanna flirt!" Scott said in a teasing tone, shaking his head.

"Umm… I think I have the rights." He said, tightening his hold on her.

And now Lydia was really grateful that no one could see her. She was pretty sure her whole body was blushing. She certainly did feel her entire body heat up. She had never blushed like this. Even with her multiple partners and boys and girls alike, flirting with her, she had never felt so loved and cherished. She could imagine a small Stiles being obsessed, as he tends to get with anything he finds remotely interesting. Oh, how she wished she knew him back then.

"Anyway." Stiles continued, which grabbed Lydia's attention. "As I was saying. Yes. You came to the stalls to buy cotton candy or was it ice-cream? Maybe popcorn. Nope, definitely cotton candy. I was paying attention to you, not what you bought. And you were with these two other girls and Danny and Matt. Those two were in our class, so I knew them. There was a breeze, I think, but it increased to wind, like strong wind and your headband was already slipping off cuz you know you guys were probably running around and all that. And so when you were going back to wherever, it slipped off." Stiles said in a rush till Scott cut in.

"Yeah so Stiles picks it up and stares at it and then goes all like, 'should I give it back…what should I do…tell me…'"

"You are making me sound way more pathetic than I was."

"I think it's cute but yeah pathetic too." Said Malia, startling everyone including the alpha.

"Woah! You gave me a heart attack. When did you wake up?" Stiles rambled.

"You guys aren't exactly quiet. Plus, I am a coyote, remember? I can be quiet if I want to." She moved closer to the couple, till she could rest her chin on Lydia's back, lightly enough to make sure that she didn't hurt the banshee.

Continuing with his story, Scott said, "So, we sit there debating what to do. I mean, Stiles is terrified like really terrified to go meet you alone and my breathing had just gotten under control so we didn't want to go back into the pollenated area. But we go anyway…"

"'Cuz who can say no to this cute face!" Stiles interrupted.

"Yeah. Yeah. We went around searching for you. I couldn't remember what you looked like so we had only Stiles' memory to go on."

"Which was accurate, if I may say so."

"You kept saying, look for the prettiest girl."

"See, accurate!"

"Guys!" Malia cut in.

"Yeah. We finally managed to find her, but it was like in the middle of a huge group of people. It was the play area, swings, slides, merry-go-rounds and what not…"

"So obviously I couldn't go in the middle of all that! Social anxiety, you know, even back then. So I focused on only Lydia, tried to remove everyone else from my vision. Not really easy cuz, 3rd and 4th graders run around a lot."

"He was so focused and intent on seeing only you that he didn't see where he was going. By the time we reached the play area, he had tripped some three to four times already. I had to keep steadying him. And then we stood there for like five minutes before he had the courage to go up to you."

"Hey, first impressions matter."

"For some reason, I actually don't remember all this." Lydia said, trying to remember what all had happened on that day. Due to the recent events, her memories of Stiles were sharper than they ever had been, but even then she couldn't remember an 8 year old Stiles. Maybe his features were a bit different? Yeah, that could be it.

"That's cuz I never made it till you."

Oh.

"Yeah. As I said, he didn't see where he was going. So he tripped over a divider."

"Who the hell keeps a divider in the play area?" Stiles asked exasperatedly.

"You are supposed to look down and walk! Anyway he tripped and the hairband fell and Jackson picked it up and gave it to you, I think."

"Ah! So you were the reason I met Jackson!"

"And I had a cut on my knee."

"Aww. A+ for effort though." Lydia giggled as she leaned up to kiss him on the chin. He hadn't shaved, so her lips were met by a few days old stubble. Lingering there for a bit longer, she decided that she liked it. Oh, she liked it very, very much. She brought her hand up to see how it would feel against her hand, just because she could. She still couldn't wrap her brain around the prospect of being able to touch him like this, like it was her right.

Scott felt a change in the atmosphere around him and decided to give his best friends some much needed alone time. "Hey, I'm going to drink some water. You guys want? Malia?" He looked at Malia to see her staring back at him with her blue eyes, meaning even she had seen the exchange.

"No thanks man." Stiles said, not taking eyes off Lydia, even though he could only make out some features.

As soon as Scott and Malia left their indoor tent, Lydia turned completely towards Stiles, resting her head on the cushions she was using as pillow. Stiles followed suit by turning on his side, facing her and pulling her close, flush against his body, with his arm around her waist, stroking her back. In this position, he could see her face properly, highlighted by soft streetlights filtering through the curtain and bedsheets.

His heart skipped a beat as he drank her in. Her hair, the perfect shade of strawberry-blonde, perfect as that was the only color he had his eyes for, settled in rumpled waves around her face; her eyes, a beautiful shade of green that he could drown in forever, as he was doing currently and her skin looked so smooth and soft like silk. So he brought his hand up to her face from her waist, to test his theory. Yup, extremely soft and beautiful. He avoided looking at her full lips cuz if he did, his friends would probably have to pry him away from this beautiful angel.

As he looked down, he saw his jersey. She was wearing his jersey. _HIS JERSEY!_ _His jersey which had Stilinski written on the back._ He had almost started to hyperventilate when he first saw her in his jersey at the dining table, looking as if she had always belonged there, in his house, doing regular things like laying down the table and that too in his jersey. Scott had mumbled something along the lines of "a picture lasts longer" and Stiles wished he had his phone in hand to snap a photo.

"What are you smiling at?" Lydia enquired, pulling him out of his reverie.

"You. And my jersey. You in my jersey." Stiles replied, giddy with happiness, his face splitting into two as he leaned forward to kiss her forehead.

Lydia's face heated up at his reaction and she couldn't help but give him a shy smile. "It's comfortable and I did manage to pull it out of thin air." At his confused reaction, she explained, "Your dad had managed to find your room but it was bare. So he had called me since I used to stand there, staring at the wall. At first, I couldn't see anything but one by one I started seeing through the dimension or whatever. I saw your bed, your investigation boards, your table, your bookshelf and finally the chair with this jersey. But your dad couldn't see it. Even though I could see it all, I didn't believe it because every time I turned away, the things disappeared. Until this jersey. I picked it up and it came into this plane of existence and gave it to your dad. And that's how he started remembering you." She sighed as she finished telling Stiles the bittersweet memory. When they had told him earlier about fighting with the ghost riders, they hadn't mentioned how they all remembered him, not wanting to upset him over the fact that no one other than Lydia actually believed that he had existed.

Stiles, for once was at loss for words. He stared at her speechless. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it must have been like for her, not being able to believe what she was seeing or feeling. He had an inkling of how that feels, courtesy the nogitsune, but even then he knew that his friends and family existed in the real world, if not in the world created by the fox in his head.

He pulled her close, almost on top of him as he gasped out, "Oh Lydia! I am so, so very sorry that you had to go through all that. I…I… Thank you. Thank you for… for everything. Thank you for not giving up, for believing, for fighting, for helping them remember. Thank you for remembering." He choked on silent tears, still searching for words that could convey how he felt. But there was nothing. Nothing could compare to this feeling of gratefulness, this consuming love he felt for Lydia Martin. So, he pulled her closer and let her wipe away his tears as he wiped hers.

There was an ache in his heart, slowly making its way up to his throat, increasing both his breathing and his heart rate. He was so overwhelmed by her, her powers and her love for him. He was Stiles and Stiles knew everything about Lydia, had always known when others didn't have any idea. He had known how smart she was, had known how much she cared, had known how hurt she had been due to Jackson, how broken she was when Allison died and how strong she had become over the years. So, when he had said "you don't need to" he had meant it, because he had known. Had known for quite some time, but as usual was giving her time and space and so hadn't said anything. But now he wanted to and words eluded him.

But actions speak louder than words, right?

He leaned upwards till his lips touched hers in a chaste kiss, a kiss of reassurance, of a promise of a lighter tomorrow and a new beginning. Then she deepened it. He brought up one hand to frame her face, the other tightening around her waist. He tilted his head back when she pulled his upper lip between her lips. Pulling back slightly to catch her breath, she brought one hand up to his hair and tangled her fingers, gently rubbing her thumb in circles. She looked down into his eyes and he could feel his troubles washing away, leaving him a euphoric feeling.

He was looking up at her the same way he had looked when she kissed him for the first time. The look of amazement and worship. Like she was the answers to all his queries and doubts, like she was the cure to his ailments, like someone being able to see for the very first time. She wondered how she got so lucky to have someone like Stiles love her and give her his everything. Their staring competition was however cut short when her exhaustion took over and she stifled a yawn.

"Hey. Go to sleep." He said, shifting them so that she laid down on the pillows again and he turned on his side to face her.

"No. I can't." Lydia said in a rush, forcing her betraying eyes to stay open. She was scared that it was all a dream, one that would haunt her forever. If she closed her eyes, she would lose him forever.

As if reading her mind, Stiles assured her, "Sleep Lydia. I am not going anywhere. I'll be right here, drooling, when you wake up."

She laughed at that and let him pull her closer. As she rested her forehead against him, she let the sound of his breathing lull her into the land of dreams, and soon Stiles followed, his fatigue taking over. He knew it wouldn't be long before he woke up again because the world was a cruel place and he still couldn't sleep without his pills, which needed to be refilled.

"Do you think they slept?" Malia asked, pointedly looking at the digital clock on the kitchen counter that read 4:04 AM.

"Hmm?" Scott looked up from the counter where he had slept off a few minutes ago.

"I think they slept. Let's go back. Please."

Listening to the heart beats and breathing of their friends, Scott nodded, "Yeah they slept."

 _Get out. Get out of here. Stiles looked around. He was at the creepy train station with the comatose people all around him. He could feel his body go lax as he slipped into a coma like state. His limbs stopped listening to him. Get out. Get out. He was screaming in his head. Putting all his strength into his final move, he managed to get up from his bench. He looked around. Peter should be here. But there was no Peter, only blurred people. Erased from existence, erased from their own minds. RUN. He ran towards the locked doors, realizing in the last minute that they were interconnected and only led to one another. So he switched directions, running to the right instead of straight. The dark tunnels were coming closer and closer to him. He stopped just before entering them, looked around one last time to search for Peter. Still no sign of him. Fuck it. Run. And so he ran. Right into the darkness and came out on the other side. Except it wasn't another platform. No. It was the boys' gym locker room. His breathing increased. Then came the sound. KNOCK. No. KNOCK. No. KNOCK. No. No. No. Don't listen. Don't listen. Look down. LOOK DOWN! Except he didn't have fingers. Rather, they were covered in bandages. Used for burn victims. NO! Stumbling and fumbling he reached the sinks and the mirrors. Oh God. Oh God. Ok. Slowly he –_

Stiles woke up sweating and panting. He was still not completely awake but had enough awareness to know that Scott was rubbing his chest and whispering a mantra of "it's ok… it was a nightmare… you are ok Stiles." He knew it was Scott because it was their thing – to rub the chest after or during a nightmare. They had been doing it ever since Stiles' mother's disease had made her forget her son and Stiles started getting nightmares of the same.

Once he caught his breath, Stiles patted the still moving hand on his chest, signaling to Scott that he was fine. Scott stopped the motions but still kept his hand on his friend's chest to keep him grounded as he caught up to the surroundings. Stiles blinked his eyes a couple of times before looking around.

Soft sunlight was streaming in through the windows. One of the bedsheets they had hung as part of the canopy now covered him and Scott. Towards his right, he could see Lydia's back and Malia's hand thrown over her. So, the nightmare hadn't been violent, Stiles thought. It seemed he had drifted towards Scott sometime in his sleep as he was on the edge of his pillow and almost on Scott's. He looked up at Scott's furrowed brows and worrisome eyes. Stiles felt he had been getting that expression from everyone ever since the whole nogitsune episode.

"Want to get out from under here?" Scott whispered.

"Yeah"

Slowly and stealthily, or well, as stealthily as a half awake Stiles could, the boys went to the kitchen, where Stiles washed his face. Accepting the glass of water from his best friend, Stiles sat down at the kitchen island and downed the whole glass in one go.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah, thanks." Stiles looked at the clock. 6:00 AM read the bright green digits.

Scott saw him looking at the clock and said, "Almost 2 hours."

Stiles looked at him and nodded. He was tired, the bone deep kind, and reminded himself to go and refill his prescription. Putting on a fake smile, he said, "Go. Go to sleep. I'm fine. Two hours is better than most nights anyway." But he dropped the act and his head when he saw Scott's raised eyebrow. Had he been taking secret classes from Sourwolf? Stiles thought. Ugh! Who was he hiding from? Scott knew everything about Stiles. Scott probably even knew the color of his underwear.

"Red" Scott was smirking when Stiles looked up. "You said it out loud, dumbass."

"Why do you know that?"

"I know everything!"

"You are the true alpha, not a psychic."

They continued their light-hearted bickering till Scott stilled Stiles' shaking hands and asked, "So, what was it about? You want to talk?"

"When do I? Seriously man, it's ok. You are tired. You have bags under your eyes. Go sleep before the kids remember that something got screwed up in the process of saving the world. Again."

"Stiles!" Scott whined and gave his friend the best puppy dog eyes he could. If he could transform into a full wolf like Derek, he would have and then given Stiles his best puppy-wolf eyes. Anything to get Stiles from keeping his feelings to himself.

"Dude. Stop it. No. No. I'm not looking. I'm not looking. Scott stop it."

But Scott could see his friend's resolve breaking.

"It's 6 in the morning. Not exactly a time to have philosophical and existential talks." Stiles tried as a last resort, knowing fully well that his brother wouldn't be budged. He was true alpha for a reason after all.

"We have talked about funerals and whatnot at 4.30 in the night. 6 is an improvement for us."

"It's stupid. You know the same old thing. Not worth it."

"It's taking you away from your sleep so I don't care even if it's about a scary clown. We are talking about it. It's been happening forever now."

"I hate you."

"Whatever."

"Let's go back to the living room. I promised Lydia I would be there when she woke up."

They had been sitting on the loveseat in front of the sleeping girls for about five minutes before Scott nudged Stiles, silently asking him to talk.

"Fine. What do you want to know, my dear psychiatrist?" Stiles mocked.

"Anything. Everything?"

"Hmm." Stiles huffed. "Well… It was the train depot. In the other dimension or whatever it was, everyone was kept in an abandoned train station. In a comatose state. And everyone only got up when the ghost riders announced something. So yeah that was the nightmare…me being stuck there. See… told you… stupid." Scott or for that matter anyone else, didn't need to know that the nogitsune still affected him.

"It's not. You were stuck there and had no way of getting out. Malia and I found Peter when he crossed the rift. He was horribly burnt. Like the time we Molotov-cocktailed him."

"Yeah. That's why he crossed alone. There was a guy before us. Human. He tried to leave the same way and got incarcerated on the spot. Actually, he was the one who found the rift."

"So. As I was saying, you must have obviously believed that you would have to stay there forever. You had absolutely no way of knowing that we would even remember you. And even if we did, that we would be able to get you out of there. I can't imagine what you must have gone through." Scott stopped talking as Malia shifted. Relieved that the girls didn't wake up, he continued whispering, "I… I am sorry. I couldn't remember you. There was this feeling you know that I was missing or forgetting something. But I ignored it." He concluded shamefully.

"It's alright. I didn't actually expect anyone to remember me. I just hoped that something might jog your memory. Or that maybe you guys would anyway save everyone including me. I saw Lydia that night and she still knew who I was. I just wanted her to know that she was loved and she would always be loved." Stiles explained, watching Lydia sleep, the sunlight catching on her curls and making them shine.

Scott watched the look of pure, naked love on his best friend's face and was once again rendered speechless by how much one could love.

"She knew. She knew right away that something was wrong. She didn't know who or what, but she noticed. She almost got into an accident trying to remember. It drove her crazy and she drove all of us crazy! But thank God she did!"

Stiles looked up in alarm as Scott mentioned accident. "Accident? Wha…What happened?"

"Don't worry. Almost! Malia pulled her back. We think she was trying to relive the few moments before you… you know." Scott looked away from his friend, guilt eating him away.

"Must be a banshee thing. That she could remember."

"I think it was. But it was more of a Lydia and Stiles thing." He added, smiling. Then he continued explaining, "You had told us to go to Canaan. Over there, was a banshee. She had witnessed everything, how the riders took everyone and turned her town into a ghost town. They left that lady with the ghost of her dead son. Riders apparently don't take banshees. So, here Lydia would have been left behind. That strengthened her resolve to find you."

Stiles gulped as he took all the information in. It was one thing to pluck people up from their homes like flowers and erase them from existence and another to leave someone to go through the pain of seeing everyone being erased, slowly losing their mind.

Stiles looked at Lydia then back at Scott once he started talking. "We would go and stand next to your locker all the time. I guess you can't erase muscle memory. Like how in history and econ, I would look over to the empty chair beside me as if to ask something, or you know, generally. I would remember something that we did together. Something that I would never ever do alone, like going in to the Preserve to find half a dead body in the middle of the night, and I would think there should be someone with me. Or I would remember something one of us said, but I couldn't remember the context. It was infuriating. Then one night, the three of us went to the Preserve. That's when Lydia suggested that we might be missing the same person. After that she was unstoppable."

"That's Lydia alright!" Stiles said with pride, then continued in a subdued tone, "I called you that day. Before I was taken, before I ran into Lydia, I called you. And you didn't know who I was. That's when I knew that they were close. That's how I knew I was next."

Stiles watched as realization dawned on Scott's face, his mouth forming a silent 'o'. The look on his brother's face made him want to take back his words. "I didn't know. I… I just remembered that. Crap. I'm so sorry. I – we – we promised that…"

The boys were only ten years old when Claudia had completely forgotten who Stiles was, due to which he used to spend most of his time at the McCall residence. One night when Stiles had broken down crying in bed, Scott had promised him that no matter what happened, they would never forget each other and Stiles had agreed with teary eyes. To a third person it would look like something meant to be comforting but was childish and foolish. But for these two, that promise meant the world.

"Well, ten-year-old-us didn't account for the supernatural so…" Stiles said, trying to come up with a way to remove that pained expression from Scott's face. Unable to come up with anything, he simply held Scott's hand, the way Scott had done multiple times whenever he would take Stiles' pain.

Recognizing the gesture, Scott smiled. There was something about human touch that could take pain away, not literally but psychologically – knowing that someone would willingly wade through the troubled waters with you and shoulder your burdens – that was enough. Scooting closer to his friend, Scott asked, "Are you sure there is nothing else?" referring to Stiles' nightmare. He could tell when Stiles was hiding something.

"Yup. Nothing else."

"Ok. But if there is something, you can talk to me." Scott let it drop for the time being. It was a miracle that Stiles even told him something.

They stayed like that in silence, both feeling a bit better after sharing a bit of their burden with the other.

Scott spoke up, "Do you want to try and go back to sleep?"

"Yeah. Let's." Stiles got up, dragging Scott up with him back to the makeshift beds.

Lydia woke up confused as she squinted her eyes against the sunlight falling directly on her face. She rarely ever slept with her blinds open. Curtain maybe, blinds hardly. And why wasn't the mattress all that comfortable? She closed her eyes, recollecting the previous day. And then it all came back to her – remembering Stiles, bringing him back, kissing him, getting rid of the ghost riders, staying over at his place, kissing him again. As she recalled all this, her eyes popped open, her heart beats increasing with every passing second and a feeling of uneasiness settling in her stomach.

She looked in front of her and there was Malia. It looked like she had also just woken up. She gave Lydia a sleepy smile and then pushed herself up on her arms, looking over Lydia's shoulders. She sighed at the sight and then dropped down next to Lydia. "Those two should be a couple. Just look at them." She said sleepily before patting the mattress, searching for her phone.

Lydia could basically hear her heartbeats in her head as she turned over slowly with her eyes closed, hoping against hope that this was not a dream, that he was right here, with her. She could hear his voice echo in her head as she remembered the last thing he had said before they slept, _'I am not going anywhere. I'll be right here, drooling, when you wake up.'_ She opened her eyes, just a little and then pleased with the view, she hoisted herself up on her elbow, looking at them.

Stiles was fast asleep, head almost off his pillow, mouth slightly open and true to his word, drooling. His hair was more like a bird's nest, as if he had been running his hand through it even during his sleep. She could see his eyes moving beneath his eyelids and she hoped it was a good dream for once and not a nightmare. His moles stood out against his pale skin, which was glowing in the morning sunlight. His chest was moving up and down rhythmically, which in turn calmed her fluttering heart down. On his midriff was Scott's head. How he had managed to reach there in his sleep, she had no clue. Stiles one hand was over Scott's chest, just below his neck and the other hand slightly extended towards Lydia.

Her admiration of Stiles was cut short as she heard a camera shutter sound over her shoulder. Turning, she saw Malia taking a picture of the boys. "For future uses, like blackmail." She explained, sending a copy of the picture to Lydia and added, "And so you can check him out without being a total creep."

"Oh hey! Finally, someone is awake." Melissa whispered poking her head under the half fallen tent that covered the teens. "Lydia, go call your mom. She has been worried. Your phone's on the dining table."

Melissa went around to adjust Stiles' pillow as the girls exited the so-called tent. Her boys were never good at making tents anyway, she thought as she steadied the lamp on which they had tied the bedsheets. As she started folding the no longer required bedsheets, she remembered the first time they had used this as a coping mechanism.

It was two months after Claudia's death and a week after Stiles had finally started talking to everyone. After Claudia's funeral, Stiles rarely talked to anyone. He would just stay holed up in his room and would get upset if anyone entered without his explicit permission, except for Scott. Scott was always the exception to anything related to Stiles and so it didn't come as a surprise to Noah, Melissa or Rafael (who was still married to Melissa) that Scott would be the only one allowed in Stiles' room. It was also Scott to whom Stiles spoke first. Stiles was never the one to stay quiet but in those weeks when he didn't want to speak to anyone, the boys developed a kind of sign language, one that only they understood. Till date no one knows how Scott managed to get Stiles to talk to the adults, but he did.

So, one day when Scott suggested to make tent in the living room, all the parents agreed and helped the boys. It was also the first time Stiles had smiled and then cried openly when just before they went to bed, Scott suggested, through teary eyes and wavering voice, that Stiles could always call Melissa his second mom and that Scott would share. That night Melissa had slept in the tent with the boys on either side of her and vowed to treat and protect Stiles as her own. And although Stiles never consciously called her mom, he still treated her like one.

She looked fondly at the boys as Scott shifted in his sleep from Stiles' midriff to his chest, in an attempt to keep his body straight. Even when the boys slept on opposite sides of the bed, they would always end up tangled with each other by the time they woke up or worse, one of them would have kicked the other one off the bed.

"Woah!" Noah exclaimed as he caught the lamp/tent pole that almost fell on the sleeping boys. "It's a good thing they never joined boy scouts. They would have been terrible." He commented.

"Yeah. That's why we didn't join." Scott muttered sleepily as he sat up, which in turn woke Stiles up.

Stretching and yawning, Stiles asked Scott, "Did I miss the National Income chapter in econ?"

"What?"

"I had a dream that Coach made me retake tests on that chapter and I kept getting an F."

"You are crazy." Scott laughed and Melissa and Noah joined in.

"Hey. Guys come on! Seriously man, did I miss it?"

"No. We start it on Monday. Relax. You and your dreams." Scott chuckled as Stiles sighed in relief.

Stiles looked around for Lydia. He had been searching for her ever since he woke up. He knew for a fact that she was still here because her top was still on his bed, he checked. He was about to give up and ask Malia, when he spotted her walking up and down the porch.

He leaned against the wall and looked at her through the mesh door, mesmerized by her beauty. It was rare that he saw Lydia without an ounce of makeup and the only times he had, it was usually life or death situations, so they weren't counted.

Her face was devoid of any makeup, except a bit of smudged eyeliner that she hadn't been able to remove, which only highlighted the few freckles that she had and that made Stiles want to kiss and trace every last one. Her hair had gone back to its usual curly state, as the effects of straightening wore out during the night, and so she had pulled it up in a messy bun, a few loose strands framing her face. She was still wearing his jersey and her tights from the previous night and Stiles knew in his heart that this is the sight he always wanted to see first thing in the morning, Lydia without makeup, messy hair, wearing his clothes and walking barefoot on the porch.

As much as she loved her mom, she didn't think she could take any more of her worries, although Natalie did have quite a few reasons to be worried about Lydia's welfare whenever she stepped out of their house. All Lydia wanted in this moment was to go back in and check on Stiles. So she was pleasantly surprised when she turned around to complete her umpteenth round of walking, to see Stiles leaning against the wall, looking at her through the mesh door.

Smiling shyly, she motioned him to come and join her outside. He beamed at her and went to lean against the balance beam near the few steps leading into the yard and driveway. He was wearing a plain maroon t-shirt and grey sweatpants, his hair, a bit subdued but still a mess, his arms crossed against his chest and his legs on two different steps, making him a smidgen shorter than he actually was. Lydia went to stand in front of him, facing him as she looked him over, hoping it was inconspicuous. But judging by his smirk and a single raised eyebrow, it probably wasn't.

"Lydia, sweetheart, are you listening to me?" her mom was asking her something. Lydia had stopped listening the minute she spotted Stiles. "Ugh. Sorry mom. What was that?" she asked, looking at her feet. The phone conversation would keep dragging on if she got distracted again. "I asked, do you want anything from the department store?" "No. I'm good. I'll go later… ok. Bye. Love you." She said as she cut the call.

"Hi." She said, looking up at Stiles.

"Hi."

"Mom called. She was worried." Lydia shook her phone to highlight her point.

"How is she?" _Damn it Stiles. Think, think. Don't let this turn into awkward small talk._

"Huh. Good. Good. She wants me to come home and take Prada for a walk." _Come on Lydia!_

"Oh." _Do you have to go? Can I come with?_

"Hmm. Sleep well?" _Are you fucking kidding me? Sleep well? Goddammit Lydia, you can do better than that._

"Yeah. Better than usual. You?" _Dammit. This is not the first time you are talking to her. But first time as more than friends. Stop correcting yourself, Stiles!_

"Better than the past few months." _Wow. From awkward to painful in a sec. Good job Lyds._

"Good." _Stiles man. Come on! It's only Lydia. Only Lydia? It's LYDIA! I need a do-over._

"Yeah." Lydia stared into his eyes trying to figure out the exact shade of brown. Honey? Hmm, something better. Sunlight going through a jar of honey. This was her new favorite color, she decided. Had his eyes always been so hypnotizing? She felt her cheeks flush as she realized that he was staring into her eyes as well. The longer she gazed into his eyes, the more light-headed she felt. Unknowingly and lost in each other's eyes, both of them had covered the distance between them and were almost chest to chest. Suddenly, the only thing she was aware of was the distance between them, or the lack thereof.

Stiles saw her pupils dilate, her face redden, her breathing increase and knew he had the same reaction to their unexpected, but not unwelcome closeness. He could feel the blood pumping, the heart beats sounding in his ears and his eyes slid down from her eyes to her lips, her very tempting, very kissable lips. Unconsciously, she licked her lips, making him groan inwardly.

Just as he was about to sweep down and kiss her, a loud 'ahem' made them jump apart, as if electrified. Stiles turned around to see Scott standing at the door, holding a piece of toast.

"Toast anyone?" Scott said with a straight face, extending it towards the embarrassed couple before taking a bite.

"Scott. Hey." Lydia breathed out.

"Good morning Lydia." Scott teased in a sing-song voice, his poker face finally giving way to a smirk.

"Yeah, morning." Lydia said quietly as she walked by Scott and into the house. She turned around to look at Stiles from behind the alpha and then went to find Malia.

Stiles glared at Scott, a look of annoyance on his face. "Hey, I'm all for canoodling but your dad's looking for you." Scott explained, holding up his hands in front of him.

Grumpily, Stiles made his way into the house, smacking Scott on his head on the way.

Almost an hour later, Stiles found himself following Lydia into her room, with Prada at their heels. He closed the door behind him and turned to look at her, only to find her already staring at him with a smile on her face. _Finally alone_ , Stiles thought before taking a few steps towards her as she did the same. Stiles held her hand and intertwined their fingers and with the other, opened her hair, watching her give it a shake to send them cascading down her back and over her shoulders. Lydia brought their connected hands up to chest level and they watched, fascinated, as she splayed her fingers against his, disconnecting and interlacing them over and over again.

Bringing their hands to his lips, Stiles kissed each of her fingers, looking into her eyes as she looked into his. They felt time slow down around them and all of a sudden everything was excruciatingly slow and in sharp focus. It was as if they were in their own world, a bubble of warmth, love and safety around them and they were the only two people in the whole world. Removing his other hand from its resting position on her shoulder, he brought it up to her face, stroking her cheek with the back of his fingers before moving it to caress her bottom lip with his thumb. He leaned downwards and she met him halfway in an open mouthed kiss. This was their first proper kiss, without an emotional trigger, but not meaningless either. It was their way of wishing good morning, a way of saying hello and a way of professing their love for one another. They pulled apart, resting their foreheads together, with eyes closed and smiled at each other.

"How much time do I have to get dressed?"

"About 45 minutes."

"Then I better get going."

Reluctantly, Lydia stepped away from him and he almost whimpered at the sudden loss. The pack was meeting up at the market place for lunch in order to try and bring back some normalcy in their lives. Lydia watched Stiles sigh and sit on her bed to play with Prada, asking her to go on.

In her walk in closet, adjoining her bathroom, she took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of her boyfriend from his jersey that he had asked her to keep. Taking a zip lock bag, she kept the jersey in it hoping to preserve some of the scent till she could get another one of his clothes. She was becoming addicted to his aroma.

Half an hour later, Lydia found Stiles laying on his stomach on her bed while he read a book that suspiciously looked like her math notes. Prada was sitting between his shoulder blades, peering intently over his shoulders into the book. They made up a cute scene. Grabbing her phone, she quickly took a few photos before Prada jumped off to greet Lydia.

She had taken three photos in total. The first one showed Stiles reading the notes, with Prada looking over his shoulder; in the second one Stiles had looked up and was giving Lydia his usual lopsided grin; and the third and by far Lydia's most favorite had Stiles gawking at her, his face conveying awe at Lydia.

Lydia was wearing a sleeveless, high neck, dark orange dress with big, navy blue polka dots covering the entire dress, which came till her mid-thighs. The orange belt with blue pattern in the middle accentuated her figure. Putting all of her hair over one shoulder, she turned around so he could see the back. The dress crisscrossed at the back, leaving a small triangle in the middle, where her skin could be seen. She turned around to find him sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at her with what she could only think of as heart eyes.

The dress itself wasn't one of her best and even though it looked amazing on her, just like everything else, it was the color of the dress that caught his attention. He didn't know whether she remembered or even knew the significance of the color, but to him the combination of orange and blue would always remind him of them.

"I bought it two months ago. I had gone shopping with mom and normally I wouldn't have picked it up, but something about it… it was like, I was drawn to it. And I thought that orange and blue is not a good combination and then I heard your voice. And I remembered the day the two of us and Scott and Allison…" her voice wavered a little when she remembered the hunter, but she continued, "…had gone to the ice skating rink. You said that there are other things that may not seem to be a good combination but later turns out to be the perfect combination, like two people who no one thought would ever be together. Back then I thought you were talking about those two, but you were actually talking about us, weren't you?" She looked up at him from the dresser, where she was sitting and applying makeup.

He was transfixed by her words. At his whispered 'yes', she continued. "That was the first time I felt that you were real. Till then it was only a feeling but that day, when I heard you… I knew it. I knew I had to get you back, no matter what. I still couldn't remember your face or name, but…" she broke off, unable to find the words. Then taking a deep breath, she continued, "A couple of days later, Deaton sent me in a trance like state to figure out what was happening. That's when I wrote this. That was our first clue." She had gotten up from the dresser and picked up a piece of paper from her desk and handed it to Stiles.

Mischief. She had written that word over and over again, all over the paper, forming a big 'Stiles' with it. His heart swelled with love and astonishment at this beautiful and wonderful person in front of him. This person, who went against all odds just to get him back and all of that based on a feeling of missing something.

"Lydia…" he said, stroking her hand. He didn't have any words to express all that he was feeling. He didn't think there were enough words in any language to relate to his feelings.

She smiled as she straddled him. "When we got this clue, I made up my mind to wear this dress only when I got you back, so I could say this." She was impossibly close to him as she said, "I." She kissed his forehead. "Love." She kissed his nose. "You." She kissed him on the mouth.

Stiles went still. His heart was soaring and he didn't know how he could fall any more in love with her, but he did. Those three words. He had known that she loved him and he didn't need verbal affirmation of the same, but hearing it felt so good.

Lydia pulled back a little and hooked her hands over his shoulders, running her fingers through his hair. His eyes sparkled with unshed tears and his mouth was slightly open. He framed her face with his hands and pulled her back in for another kiss.

"Lydia Martin, I love you. I love you so, so, very much." Stiles gasped out as they parted for air.

"And I love you." Lydia said as she kissed his jawline. "Mieczyslaw." She whispered in his ear before tugging on the earlobe with her teeth.

Before he could catch his breath, she got off him and went back to her wardrobe to get her sling bag and wedges and when she came back to stand in front of him, he had a faraway, dreamy look in his eyes and the brightest smile she had ever seen. He remained in the same dream like state till they sat in his jeep.

"Wait a minute! How do you know my name?" he asked, just realizing that she had called him Mieczyslaw and not Stiles.

Lydia threw her head back and laughed. "I was waiting for you to realize that. Your dad told us."

"US? There are more people who know of this?" he asked with his eyes comically large.

"Yeah. Scott, Malia, Liam and me." Lydia replied.

"Oh no. That's it. He's getting lettuce for a week!" Stiles muttered, starting the jeep. After few minutes, he quietly added, "Umm… Lydia? You can call me that if you want. But only when we are alone and like at least a month's gap between each time. I can't handle it otherwise."

Lydia just laughed.


End file.
